ess as a man at
the bottom of an Alpine crevasse. Ignition, carburettor, what had been
damaged? In good daylight it might take me an hour or two first to
discover and then to mend. By the radiance of my torch I would
probably spend a night or two, and be none the wiser.

And meantime the precious dark hours were slipping away, and scattered
all over the miles of country lay foemen sleeping--nothing but foes. I
was in a sea-girt isle with but one solitary friend, and he was nearly
twenty miles away, and I had the strictest orders not to approach him
save under the cover of darkness. Enough cause for a few pretty black
moments, I think you will allow.

And then I took myself by the scruff of the neck and gave myself a
hearty shake. Had I been picked for this errand because I was a coward
or a resourceless fool? No! Well, then, I must keep my head and use
my wits, and if I could not achieve the best thing, I must try to do
the second best. I ran over all the factors in the problem.

Firstly, to wait in the middle of that road trying to accomplish a job
which I knew perfectly well it was a thousand chances to one against my
managing, was sheer perverse folly.

Secondly, to leave my cycle in a ditch and try to cover the distance on
my own two legs before daybreak was a physical impossibility. My cycle
being one of the modern kind with no pedals, I could not even essay the
dreadful task of grinding it along with my feet. Therefore I could not
reach my haven to-night by any conceivable means.

On the other hand, I would still be expected to-morrow night, for our
plans were laid to allow something for mischances; so if I could
conceal myself and my cycle through the coming day, all might yet be
well. Therefore I must devise some plan for concealing myself.

Logic had brought me beautifully so far, but now came the rub--Where
was I to hide? These islands, you may or may not know, are to all
practical purposes treeless and hedgeless. They have many moors and
waste places, but of an abominable kind for a fugitive--especially a
fugitive with a motor-cycle. The slopes are long and usually gentle
and quite exposed; ravines and dells are few and far between and
farther still to reach. Caves and clefts among the rocks might be
found no doubt, but I should probably break my neck looking for them in
the dark. Conceive of a man with a motor-bicycle looking for a cave by
starlight!

And then a heaven-sent inspirati